Thursday, 5 November 2009

Missing In Action

BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Ospreys v Northampton (Thu)

That the Ospreys are claiming 29 absentees for tonight's Anglo-Welsh game is a dramatic illustration of the farce that the modern squad system is becoming. Some may well ask how on Earth a squad that can lose 29 players, and still field a match 22, is sustainable. I certainly wouldn't want to be paying that wage bill while barely filling 7000 seats.

Still, it's a chance to see players we've never seen before; or even heard of. I confess I don't know James King from Adam (Jones, ha-ha). The best of luck to him.

The good news is that the Northampton side will be a similar patchwork, so there are still no excuses; and given the fare that the first XV have produced thus far, this is a golden opportunity for players like Ryan Bevington and Jonathan Spratt to begin capitalizing the P in Potential. I also have high hopes of Gareth Owen, so much freer-looking at fly-half and one of the few bright spots in last weekend's soporific 9-9 draw with Glasgow.

Of course, it's all just an hors d'oeuvre for Saturday's ritual sacrifice international match. Let's hope the boys can put me in a good mood before that ordeal begins...

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